ITAP seeks to pioneer apprenticeships at IT companies in the US for socio-economically disadvantaged students. The apprenticeship program would be a mix of training through IT courses at a community college and work at a partnering IT company over the course of 4 years.
Only 22%, of American youth see college education as an affordable option. Without changes to IT education, America will fail to meet the demand for IT talent and continue to outsource or underproduce its technological products. If the obstacles to IT education were removed (university fees, high GPA scores, inability to earn money while studying), more of America’s teenagers could see their future in the tech industry, enabling companies to keep up with the current demand for production.
Our target population is the disadvantaged youth around Boston, a city with numerous colleges with affordable IT programs and companies greatly in need of young talent.
Service Project Details:
ITAP was formed at HackingEDU, the world’s largest education hackathon. It got selected for the Clinton Global Initiative University 2016 and secured a grant from Northeastern as well. Our goal is to build partnerships with companies and public institutions to create apprenticeship positions. We have already spoken to Chegg, HubSpot, and iRobot, who agree there is a big problem finding capable IT engineers, and are very excited at the prospect of hiring apprentices at a significantly cheaper rate than graduated employees.
Job Description:
We hope to recruit 3-5 students who are interested in being part of a founding team. Responsibilities will include:
- Interviews with key stakeholders
- Students, Schools, Companies, Community Colleges
- Developing a business plan
- Forging partnerships through negotiations
- Creating website, social media handles and populating them with necessary information
Backgrounds in computer science, engineering and social enterprise are encouraged but are by no means necessary.
Timeline and Commitment Details:
Spring 2016
- Create two apprenticeship programs in Web and App Development
- Begin interviewing candidates
- Submit progress report to Clinton Global Initiative University and get selected for their 2017 conference
Service Location:
Varied. On-site assignments at partner companies and schools throughout Boston
Why you should join!
If you want to disrupt the status quo and create an impact in the local community
A once-in-a-lifetime chance to attend a Clinton Global Initiative University conference
If you want to network with leaders in Boston’s education and technology ecosystem
Team Leaders:
Andy Xu and Nikin Tharan